Teen Abortions Down In Texas

Law Notifying Parents Seen As Key To Drop

DALLAS — Abortion rates among Texas minors have dropped, apparently because of the state's parental notification law, although it may be driving some older girls into second-trimester terminations.

The findings emerged from the first comprehensive analysis of teen abortion and birth rates since passage of Texas's parental notification act. The law, which took effect in 2000, requires a physician to notify the parent of a minor girl seeking an abortion.

The researchers found that the abortion rate among 15-year-olds was 18 percent lower in the three years after the law went into effect than it was in the two years before. For 16-year-olds, the rate dropped 25 percent, and for 17-year-olds it fell 22 percent.

Abortion rates in Texas and nationally have been falling for more than a decade, but the new study, published todayin the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that the law has accelerated this trend.

Among 18-year-olds -- girls closest in age to minors but unaffected by parental notification -- the decline was 7 percent. The larger drop in rates among younger girls suggests the law may be making the difference.

Lead researcher Ted Joyce City University of New York and his colleagues focused much of their analysis on 17-year-olds who may be most affected by the parental notification requirement. Studies have suggested that the older a teenager is, the less likely she is to discuss abortion with her parents.

When the researchers analyzed the numbers for 17-year-olds, one new phenomenon appeared: While this group's overall rate of abortion fell, the data suggested that many girls were postponing the procedure. The study found a spike in second-trimester abortions for those who became pregnant within six months of their 18th birthday, when they would be past the law's reach.

The researchers said they focused on Texas because it is the largest state to require parental notification, and births and abortions occur frequently enough for detailed analysis. And too, Joyce said, most surrounding states have similar notification laws, which would discourage girls crossing the state line.